Open Media initiates campaign against Internet restrictions

The Canadian-based organization Open Media International announced on May 16 that it is launching an international coalition called "Our Fair Deal," seeking to counter the potential restrictions on the Internet posed by an international agreement called the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP).

The TPP is currently being negotiated by Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Peru, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Vietnam, and the United States, Open Media said. The 17th round of talks is being held in Lima, Peru, from 15-24 May.

"The changes to copyright required by the TPP would reduce our access to information and restrict our ability to innovate, both on and offline," said the organization in an announcement.

"Changing our copyright laws in ways that restrict the open Internet and economic opportunity are unfair to citizens, businesses, creators, and civil society organizations. Not only could such changes raise prices for users of copyright works, but they could also stifle our knowledge economy and chill innovation," it said.

Open Media said it has coalition partners on the ground in Peru who will speak directly to the TPP negotiators, but in order to have leverage, they need to show they have large numbers behind them. The group is asking like-minded people to sign a statement saying: “Please reject copyright proposals that restrict the open Internet, access to knowledge, economic opportunity and our fundamental rights.”

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